Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Every year on December 8th, the city of Lyon becomes a sparkling
jewel as houses, businesses and apartment buildings are lit by millions of small
votive candles on all their windowsills. The Fête des
Lumières originated as a celebration of Mary, Jesus's mother. But over
time, it has become for many a simple celebration of light and its beauty.

It's a fun way to really get into the Christmas spirit, with lights,
candles, hot chestnuts and hot, spiced wine to drink in Lyon as well as in many
of the little towns and villages surrounding the city. This year the celebration starts on December 8th and continues through the weekend.

There is no way to describe in words Lyon's fairy-like quality
during the festival, so I wanted to share it with a photo-tour.

...and Fourviere during the festival

Many of the little squares (les places) and churches
become canvases for light displays. Some tell stories and others are more
abstract. All the shows run idependently from one another throughout the
festival. Each light show runs on a continuous loop, with a soundtrack. Some
even include narration. Festival-goers are able to then vote online for the
'Best of Festival' award.

Lyon Opera House, before its show.

Walking along the streets on la presqu'île (presque=
almost, île= island, so presqu'ile means 'almost-island', or,
peninsula) there are lights of all kinds hung from almost anything, like this:

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

"What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages? Bi-lingual. What do
you call someone who speaks 3 languages? Tri-lingual. What do you call
someone who only speaks one language? American."

Americans are often criticized by people in other countries because to be honest, we aren't all that great at learning foreign languages. But, to be fair, people usually rank their activities in priority order, giving greater weight to those things we feel we 'need' to do. In general, Americans don't feel a strong need to learn another language. Why?

The main reason is due to geography. Canada is mostly English-speaking, and Spanish, remains largely restricted to regions near the Mexican border (which is changing rapidly). The other reason is that English is quickly becoming the global language of science, commerce, and diplomacy (a title that used to be held by French). But it's different in other parts of the world. For example, here in France, my son is a Junior in high school. He started English classes, along with German, in 6th grade. He switched to Spanish in 8th grade. Most student learn at least 2 foreign languages (one of which is English), and it's not uncommon for students to pick up a third and sometimes even a fourth foreign language. Granted, Europe has many language zones packed into a relatively small space, so much of the language learning is done out of necessity. But we can learn an important lesson from the European language-learning model: if they can routinely learn additional languages, so can you!

As America becomes less isolated through travel and the Internet, geography will be less and less important. The sooner we understand that, the better. End result? We will see more and more of people learning new languages. What do you think about Americans and foreign languages? Do you feel that there are other countries, such as the UK, who are in the same linguistic 'boat'? Let me know in the comments section.

You can get started by going to www.languageroutes.com to pick up resources for learning French, Spanish and even English (for those of you teaching ESL/ESOL).

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I was reading an article the other day about Anglophones and found out something interesting. If my friend Liz is at my house and stands on my coffee table and it breaks (I have no idea what she's doing up there- she'd never actually stand on a coffee table), if someone asks me what happened, I, as an English speaker am likely to say, "Liz broke the table," even if it was an accident.

Scientists have done studies that determine that speakers in Spain or Japan would probably simply say, "It broke." At Stanford University, scientists showed videos of two people breaking eggs, spilling drinks and popping balloons - both intentionally and accidentally. The viewers, who were speakers of English, Japanese and Spanish, were later given a memory test in which they were asked to describe the events. Surprisingly, the English speakers remembered equally the accidental and intentional events. However, while the Japanese and Spanish speakers remembered the intentional events as well as the English speakers, they had a significantly more difficult time remembering the accidents! Why? Because the English speakers assigned blame to the person who popped the balloon, spilled the drink or broke the egg, no matter if it was an accident or not. This helped them to encode the incident in their mind. So is this a cultural difference or a linguistic difference? One more study points more toward the linguistic...

Remember the Super Bowl halftime show when Janet Jackson had her 'wardrobe malfunction', showing viewers more of her than she intended? Two groups of English speakers were shown the video of the incident and then given a written report of the incident and told to come up with a suitable punishment. The reports were worded slightly differently: in one, the end said 'the costume ripped' and in the other 'Justin Timberlake ripped the costume'. Even though the entire group had watched the same video, those who got the report that said 'the costume ripped' determined a punishment only half of that of the other group (who had a person to blame)!

Moral of the story? For English speakers, there has to be a scapegoat - someone to blame.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Issue 55 of English Now magazine is in the newsstands! (Of course, it's also available from our website.) English Now is different from any other language learning magazine in that it its articles are written specifically for French-speakers learning English who are at beginner to intermediate level.

Each page has keywords translated into French. No need for a dictionary here - we've done it for you. Also, the feature articles are available in CD format with 60+ minutes of audio read by native English speakers from Britain, the US and Australia to help the learner tune their ear to different accents.

- learn about coffee culture in the US and UK.- discover London behind the scenes!- get key vocabulary for an American summer trip.- find out where English-speakers meet up with friends.- ask for recommendations for the weekend in English.- read about bestselling author Agatha Christie.- get key phrases for shopping in the UK and US.- learn about American dollars and cents.- meet a British artist, an American scrapbooker and a British chex boxer.- keep up-to-date on the latest news from English-speaking countries.- test your comprehension with exercises!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

To most Americans, the Fourth of July is probably the most patriotic event of the year. Time to get out flags, fireworks, candy, and any kind of object that makes noise, because it’s time toP-A-R-T-Y! And while we’re at it, don’t forget to stop and watch the parade go by! There will be dancers, bands from the various high schools in the area, and, depending on the size of the city, anything ranging from the prize sheep of the local town fair to a VIP.

Did you know?

- The 4th of July originates from the 4th of July 1776, when the Declaration of Independence from the British was signed!- The citizens of Greeley, Colorado, celebrate with the nation’s largest rodeo, the ‘Greeley Stampede’. It attracts 400 000 visitors each year!- Although there is no traditional meal on the Fourth of July, it isn’t uncommon to see families get together for a barbecue outside, eating hamburgers and hot dogs, chicken, ribs, garden salads, potato salad, chips and watermelon.- 11 cities in the States are called ‘Independence’ in memory of the famous day of Independence.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Issue 55 of English Now magazine is in the newsstands! (Of course, it's also available from our website.) English Now is different from any other language learning magazine in that it its articles are written specifically for French-speakers learning English who are at beginner to intermediate level.

Each page has keywords translated into French. No need for a dictionary here - we've done it for you. Also, the feature articles are available in CD format with 60+ minutes of audio read by native English speakers from Britain, the US and Australia to help the learner tune their ear to different accents.

- learn about the famous British sense of humour!- prepare for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.- get key vocabulary for talking about your family.- find out how the Britons and Americans are alike – and how they are different!- read about expressions of length and area.- get key phrases for requesting time off.- learn about Sarah Palin.- meet a modern-day knight, a beekeeper and a sushi chef.- learn the most annoying words in the English language.- keep up-to-date on the latest news from English-speaking countries.- acquire vocabulary for the dinner table.- test your comprehension with exercises!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Issue 54 of English Now magazine is in the newsstands across France! (Of course, it's also available from our website.) English Now is different from any other language learning magazine in that it its articles are written specifically for French-speakers learning English who are at beginner to intermediate level.

Each page has keywords translated into French. No need for a dictionary here - we've done it for you. Also, the feature articles are available in CD format with 60+ minutes of audio read by native English speakers from Britain, the US and Australia to help the learner tune their ear to different accents.

- celebrate Valentine’s Day like the British and Americans.- learn about the best London pubs and pub history.- explore an American living room.- get key vocabulary for greeting a visitor.- read about expressions of quantity.- test your knowledge of pub grub.- learn about Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.- meet a consulting fashion director, juggling brothers and a veterinarian.- keep up-to-date on the latest news from English-speaking countries.- acquire vocabulary for going to the post office.- learn to play a game with pub signs.- test your comprehension with exercises!

Monday, February 7, 2011

But let's look at it from a different angle, or tune, if you will. How can music be used to help learn a language? Listening to music in your target language helps build your vocabulary, but singing along also helps you match your pronunciation, intonation and speech rhythm to that of the native speaker (or singer, as the case is here). Also, a recent study found that singing words, rather than speaking them, improves the listener's ability to distinguish the end of one word from the beginning of the next. (Anyone who has ever heard a string of unending French can identify with this challenge!)

Thanks to the Matador Network, I've also been listening to Souad Massi, an Algerian woman who sings in her native Arabic, as well as French and Spanish.

Shifting musical style gears, but staying within the French language, Benjamin Biolay is offering a free download of his song 'La Superbe' until October 19th. Sounds like a good (free!) place to start to me.

What about you? Do you use music for language learning or as part of cultural immersion? Who do you recommend we listen to? Merci d'avance !